Can magazine spring 2013

Swimming for 5 to 16 years Page 13

City Academy Norwich

MAGAZINE SPRING 2013

Chef Franck Pontais presents cooking demonstration at City Academy Norwich Page 7

CAN Film Project Page 11

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Contents From the Principal

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EVE Project Workshop

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Holocaust Memorial Event

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Intermediate UK Maths Challenge

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First private dining experience

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Chef Franck Pontais at CAN

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Information Technology

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Radio Plays

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NUCA exhibition at CAN

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University of East Anglia students help develop GCSE drama pieces

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Art and Culture in London

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Inspire a Generation dance show

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Norfolk Winter School Games

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Swimming lessons for 5-16 year olds

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France trip 2013

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Students design mountain biking tracks

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Army assault course

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Family Fun Day

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St John Ambulance Cadets

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World Book Day

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Book Publishers Project

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Students take a trip to see the Hobbit

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Accelerated Reader Scheme

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Gifted and Talented Conference

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TEN Gifted and Talented Student Forum 21

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Cambridge University Challenge day

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Students create Mars Landers

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Russian taster session

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Red Nose Day

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Where to find us

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From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers As you can see, we continue to involve the students at CAN in some wonderful learning experiences.

I would like to draw your attention, in particular, to some of the amazing work that is being done in the Digital Technology area.

The Eve project involves students flying into a virtual world and participating in collaborative problem

solving activities. Mr Mullis and Mr Thompson are presenting this project to an International audience in Brazil over Easter.

Students are building computers for home use, some are building touch screen tables, while others are designing Apps for phones. This new world at the Academy is giving CAN students a head start in their future lives.

Obviously there is more to life at CAN than this, as the magazine shows, but this is a glimpse into the future!

Mr D Brunton Principal

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EVE Project Workshop The EVE Project workshop aims to engage staff and students in the development of an exciting 3D virtual world that liberates students in their investigation of STEM based projects.

The virtual world would be created by and with students, initially within the Academy, broadening to encompass schools across the county and across the globe.

Students would work in teams on different islands to develop a sustainable energy source within their environment and to produce materials which help other students in their investigations under the theme of Energy.

Students will compete to design the most energy efficient island on the virtual world drawing from STEM based skills, participating in exciting new learning opportunities with web based assessment throughout and engaging competitions.

The workshop will be followed by an informative discussion on the learning impact of this virtual world implementation by Futurelab.

Speakers will include: Jerome Thompson, AST, ICT Teacher, City Academy Norwich Tim Mullis, Head of Science/STEM, City Academy, Norwich Gareth Mills, Consultant, Futurelab

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Students take part in Intermediate UK Maths Challenge Holocaust Memorial Event at City Academy Norwich Following Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday 27th January City Academy Norwich students were given the opportunity to experience a day of activities designed to broaden their knowledge and understanding of this important topic.

Rather than attend their usual Tuesday lessons Year 8 students took part in a range of Holocaust workshops led by their Humanities teachers in collaboration with a group of 15 History PGCE students from UEA. Pupils learned how to examine a historical artifact, they used evidence to solve a mystery and built up an interactive timeline of the Holocaust. Throughout the day pupils worked collaboratively in groups and were encouraged to

discuss ideas and generate their own questions. The culmination of the day was a group task that required pupils to design their own Holocaust Memorial.

The day was planned and organized

by History Advanced Skills Teacher Dan Carter. The aim was to engage pupils in the study of the Holocaust by introducing them to personal stories that they could connect with and understand, rather than to shock them with graphic photographs and films. The feedback from pupils and adults who participated in the day was overwhelmingly positive; pupils who might not ordinarily be interested in History were enthusiastically asking questions and participating in the group tasks.

Thirty City Academy Norwich students joined the top 20% of maths students in the country to take part in this year’s Intermediate Maths Challenge on 7th February at City Academy Norwich.

The students had to do a 1 hour paper, testing mathematical and logical reasoning.

Congratulations to Jessica Rudd, Michael Cushion and Matthew Welch who all won a silver award and to Kye Metcalfe, Scott Buxton, Aakash Weerasingha and James DeAntonis who all won a bronze award. Best in year certificates go to Jessica Rudd, Michael Cushion and James DeAntonis. The Best in School certificate goes to Michael Cushion in Year 10. Students were selected from Years 9, 10 and 11.

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Customer Feedback “I can’t believe that this food was cooked by under 16’s” ‘Not only was the food some of the best I’ve tasted but the service was top notch too!”

“These chefs and front of house staff will have no problem finding a job post 16.”

“City Academy Norwich are doing something really exciting and unique and this is only the beginning. I wish them the best of luck.”

“The students really excel in a real world situation. They are 100% committed to excellent service as well as superb food. They are the chefs of tomorrow. It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with such high calibre students.”

“Watch out Gordon Ramsay.

Wow, just wow!”

“It’s fantastic to see students so passionate about food, it’s clear that they thrive on the responsibility. When is the next one?”

Academy’s trainee chefs host Àrst eZternal private dining eZperience Five of City Academy Norwich’s trainee student chefs hosted the Academy’s first external private dining experience at the LRC and our professional kitchen for twelve Trainee teachers from the University of East Anglia on Monday 25th February.

Once again our student chefs and front of house staff performed to the highest level and provided their paying customers with an exquisite fine dining experience. The five course menu was enjoyed by guests who were overwhelmed with the quality of the food and service they received.

Menu Pre Starter: Parsnip soup Starter: Anti pasti – cured meats, dipping oil, gherkins, olives, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, bread Main: Breast of chicken stuffed with brie served on pomme puree with crispy bacon and creamed wild mushrooms (V) Butternut squash risotto Dessert: A warm berry crumble Coffee and petit fours

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“I thought I would test one of the chefs by asking questions about the food when they came out at the end and, to my surprise and delight he could tell me every ingredient that went into the dish, the cooking method and even gave me a tip or two.”

“It is an absolute pleasure to work with such an outstanding group of students in this setting; we are trying to give them real life experience and the necessary skills needed in order to make the transition into the world of work.

I am confident that ‘Exceptionnel’ will continue to grow and will be a fully functioning restaurant based at City Academy Norwich for years to come.”

Lee Vann (City Academy Norwich)

Chef Franck Pontais presents cooking demonstration at City Academy Norwich Chef and Kitchen Artist Franck Pontais visited City Academy Norwich on Wednesday 20th March to present a cooking demonstration to 80 Key Stage 4 students.

has given them the opportunity to see where an A* grade in catering could take them. Franck was very inspirational and I am really glad the students were given the opportunity to see it.

During the 90 minute long demonstration Franck not only showed the students how to make pouched quail egg salad, hot smoked fish and potato terrine and butter roses but also how to use chocolate sculpting in cooking.

Some of the students who attended the demonstration will now put themselves forward to compete in a Great British Menu style competition that will take place in May.

Linda Roberts said: “Franck’s demonstration has been really beneficial for the students as it

Students who are successful will form together to make a catering team who will cook a lavish meal for Mr Brunton and his VIP guests.

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Information and Communication Technology at City Academy Norwich

BETT Show A coach of students attended BETT at the impressive London Excel Arena and observed tomorrow’s technology today.

Pilot Pi Project Virtual world Year 11 students are taking to the virtual world in partnership with the Sainsbury Art Centre. With partners from Brazil, France and the UK this looks like a fascinating project.

Teacher training A class of Year 9 computing students gave a wonderful presentation of their learning journey to an amazed 160 trainee PGCE students from the UEA.

Working with Norfolk County Council students across Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 will be provided with a Can-Pi, a credit card sized computer that can plug into any standard TV system.

Kinect kicks off

Scratch off – Battle Begins

Well done Ellie Creative iMedia student hits national news and hopes to continue her studies to degree level in this area. We are all proud of you Ellie.

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3d printing Creative iMedia students have been hard at work designing and creating phone case’s using an amazing 3d printer.

Now they develop apps and phone accessories!

Binary challenge With nearly 100 entrants to the Binary challenge from across all year groups, we have a new Champion. Congratulations go to Shania Staddon from Year 7.

Well done!

Cisco Invent Students afterschool Cisco club is still well attended with students learning how to build PC’s and take them home.

This ½ term has seen a few projects with students building a touch screen table. Brilliant.

Students across Year 7 and 8 are preparing to take on other schools from around Norfolk in a programming competition.

Last year’s winners won an amazing £100. Watch this space.

After presenting to local business champions, the Computing students from Year 9, have been awarded funding to develop their literacy motion games and bring them to primary schools around the county. Wow.

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Students eZperience Art and Culture in London

;ear Àve students create Radio Plays The Drama department have been running a Radio Play project with 75 Year 5 students from St Michaels Junior School.

The Radio Play project involved the students attending two drama sessions where they developed characters, rehearsed a Flash Gordon script and used iPads to record and edit their radio plays. The students worked really well and were very creative with their ideas for making sound effect noises such spaceships, rayguns and fire.

Norwich University College of the Arts EZhibition at City Academy Norwich Undergraduate students from Norwich University of the Arts are holding an exhibition in the Creativity breakout space from Thursday 18th April to Friday 10th May.

University of East Anglia students help develop GCSE drama pieces Five students from the University of East Anglia drama department have been working with City Academy Norwich’s GCSE drama students to help them with their final exam pieces.

The UEA students have performed for the students in an original play, provided one-to-one support to CAN

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The exhibition will give Key Stage 3 and 4 art students the opportunity to view the work and talk to the artists about their ideas. There will be a student Private View at 4pm and then for staff and guests at 5pm on Thursday 25th April.

students and run two workshops based on Characterisation and Themes which has really helped to develop the GCSE performances.

The drama exam pieces will be performed to parents, friends and examiners on Tuesday 30th April and Thursday 2nd May at 7.00pm.

Forty GCSE Art and Photography students visited London to visit art galleries on Saturday 9th February.

The students started their day by visiting Tate Modern before catching a river boat up the Thames to Tate Britain.

Kelly Mallet said: “The students were impeccably behaved and I was very proud of each and every one of them. It was a very enjoyable day and the students gained valuable experience in seeing live art.”

CAN Film Project Twelve CAN students have been getting involved in a huge range of exciting work experience projects this term.

Students spent 6 weeks working with local film company C>Media to produce a series of mocumentaries about wizards, chewing gum dealers and killer pens. They have also recorded some special behind the scenes documentaries for Norwich Arts Centre, Cinema City and Mustard TV which will appear on the venues’ websites soon.

Five of these students have also worked as the official film crew to document ‘CAN’s Got Talent’.

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City Academy Norwich achieve third place in Norfolk Winter School Games Eight Year 7 pupils from City Academy Norwich achieved third place in the Norfolk Winter School Games on Thursday 7th March.

The Norfolk School Games is the biggest school sporting event to ever be held in Norfolk and will see over 4,500 young people take part in 23 different sports during 2013.

Pupils stage inspirational performance at ‘Inspire a Generation’ dance show Over forty five pupils from City Academy Norwich wowed the crowds at the Norwich School Sport Partnership’s (SSP) Inspire a Generation schools dance show on Tuesday 12th February at the OPEN Youth Venue.

Three groups of City Academy Norwich pupils performed in the show, the Year 8 lunchtime Dance Club pupils performed “Bout It” from the film “Step Up” followed by a group of Year 10/11 pupils who had choreographed a “Step Up Medley” of music from the film “Step Up” themselves. Pupils from the Academy’s Arts Award Dance course also performed to “I Believe” from “Honey”.

The SSP’s Inspire a Generation schools dance show provided pupils with a fantastic opportunity to perform on a big stage with professional sound and lighting. All dance routines in the show were themed around things that inspired the 300 young people aged between 5 and 16 from 13 schools across the county.

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Miss Kitson who runs the Arts Award Dance course said; “I am really proud of all the pupils that took part in the show. They have all worked extremely hard to prepare and they all gave it their all! I would like to thank the School Sport Partnership for providing our pupils with the opportunity to take part in tonight’s show”.

Lisa McGreevy, dance coordinator for the Norwich School Sport Partnership, said: “The young people have been working on the show since October and they have been brilliant. I am so proud of them.”

The performances can be viewed online at www.youtube.com/norwichssp Pupils from the Academy will also have the opportunity to take part in a second SSP dance show that is being held in June.

ambassadors for the Academy throughout the event.

Over the next few months City Academy Norwich pupils will have the opportunity to compete against other local schools in a variety of other sports to win a place in the squad to represent the Norwich School Sport Partnership (SSP) in the Norfolk School Games summer finals.

The City Academy Norwich team took part in a range of track and field events including shot put, standing long jump, standing triple jump, 2 lap individual race and 8 lap Paarlauf relay. The team performed exceptionally well and were great

Year 10 – Football team City Academy Norwich Year 10 boys football team are through to the Final of the Norfolk Cup after beating Nethered High School 8-2.

The goalscorers were: George Couzens x2 Todd Cantwell x2 Matt Welch Harley Black Kofi Boateng Jimmy Rajabu This is the first time City Academy Norwich have got to the Norfolk county cup final. The final is going to be played on Tuesday 30th April at 7.30pm at the FDC (Bowthorpe).

Everyone is welcome to come along and support the team.

Academy introduces new affordable swimming lessons for 5-16 year olds City Academy Norwich will soon be offering a programme of new community swimming sessions for young people aged between 5 and 16 years old. The sessions will provide an affordable way for young people to learn to swim or develop their stroke further.

Sessions will be held every Thursday evening between 5pm and 7pm at the Academy’s swimming pool with the first session being held on Thursday 18th April.

5.00 to 5.30pm: Non swimmers 5.30 to 6.00pm: Children that can swim 5-10m 6.00 to 6.30pm: Children that can swim 10-25m 6.30 to 7.00pm: Children that can swim 25m+ Sessions are only £3 and participants will be able to pay on a weekly basis or up front for a half term.

For more information about the sessions please contact the Academy’s swimming instructor Ben Johnson on ben.johnson@cityacademynorwich.org

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Students design mountain biking tracks City Academy Norwich’s Duke of Edinburgh Award students were given the opportunity to spend a day mountain biking at the Hautbois Centre and design their own tracks in November.

Spaces available for students on France trip There are still spaces available for students to come to France on a Watersports and cultural holiday from 27th July to 4th August.

Although this is a trip aimed at Duke of Edinburgh Award students, there are spaces available for other students who are interested.

Students who attend will have the opportunity to go sailing, canoeing, kayaking, abseiling and a host of other activities. They will also spend time in the local community volunteering for a local project.

For more information please see Mr Deal.

The students, who were working in conjunction with the Sports Partnership and the British Mountain

Biking Association, were encouraged to both ride the course and research various elements of it so they could create their own track in the Bluebell Woods. Working closely with The British Mountain Biking Association, students have now created designs and plans and will be building the course in the next half term.

Students brace the elements to tackle Army assault course

Duke of Edinburgh students huddled together in the freezing cold to welcome the Army and their mobile assault course in November.

After demonstrations of equipment, team building games and the occasional press ups students took to the course and did time trials.

All students who took part and got very muddy in the process.

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Family Fun Day Two of the businesses DofE students have set up ran on Family Fun Day. Both were a massive success and £250 was made by the end of the day between ‘Planet Smoothie’s’ drinks and ‘Beautiful loving connections’ with their bracelets.

With several opportunities left to sell their products these two businesses look set for big things.

A huge congratulations to the students that took part.

St John Ambulance Cadets at City Academy Norwich Further to the last issue of the Academy magazine, we can now show you the photo of City Academy Norwich St John Ambulance cadets receiving a formal presentation of their certificates on Wednesday 19 December 2012.

World Book Day at City Academy Norwich City Academy Norwich celebrated World Book Day on Thursday 7th March by providing a range of fun activities for students to get involved in.

The LRC held some book quizzes as well as a book cover design competition for Key Stage 3 and 4 students. Staff were asked to wear badges naming their favourite books literary characters, ranging from the Gruffalo to the Count of Monte Cristo, and students had to find out who everyone had chosen.

Students won an assortment of prizes ranging from a set of professional drawing pencils for best

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book cover design to book tokens and chocolates.

Winners were: Best book cover design: Jhana Herman Special prize for Key Stage 3 and 4 book quiz: Emma Holmes and Anya Allen Form that took part in the most World Book Day competitions: Kirsty Shanahan’s Staff Favourite Book Characters competition: Amne Khalil, James De Antonis, Harry Barber and Amber Hunt.

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Book Publishers Project

Students take a trip to see the Hobbit

Year 7 pupils have been working closely with primary school pupils on their Book Publishers project.

The brief was to design a superhero story for a specific audience. We worked with primary school pupils in year 3 and 4 from Bluebell Primary School and year 5 pupils from Avenue Junior School.

First the primary school pupils filled out questionnaires about their interests, likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. We asked them to think about something they needed help with in school, for example using connectives in their writing.

We then partnered our students with a primary school pupil. They had to design a superhero story just for that person. They had to try and include all the information their partner had provided in their questionnaire, and it had to help the primary school partner improve on their area of weakness.

Year 7 students then spent two weeks writing a personalised superhero story. They worked really hard and showed great independent learning skills.

When the stories were finished, students chose to attend workshops.

They could either publish their book as a big book, a little book or an

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The LRC Book Club read the Hobbit last month and then went to see the film at Odeon cinema to compare it to the book.

eBook. They spent a further week designing the layout of their books.

see a monkey tail attached to her! I would love to have a tail!’

In the final week, our primary school partners came to visit the Academy.

They were shown up to the year 7 zone and really enjoyed having their stories read to them. The pupils and teachers from the primary schools involved were extremely positive about our year 7 students.

Our year 7 students were also really positive about the project:

‘I liked that you included all my favourite hobbies and made sure I understood everything’ Jasmine ‘It really related to me in real life, as well as having a good story plot’ Kitty ‘It had really good drawing and great ideas’ Callum ‘I loved it when Mia looked in the mirror and she was surprised to

‘My pupil really liked the story that I wrote for her. She thought it was very interesting and really loved playing the game that I made. I was really pleased I finally got to share it with her. Thank you year 5 for coming to our school!’ Sophie ‘I learned a lot about trying your hardest when presenting a piece of work to someone else. I also met someone who was kind and funny’ Jessy ‘I didn’t think I could write stories, but then I tried and I did it. I’m really pleased and proud of my work’ Emma (Year 7)

Student Anya Allen said: “The Hobbit is an Unexpected Journey that follows a title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to the lost Dwarf kingdom of Erebor.

Reading the book inspired me to be more creative and

adventurous with my stories.

At first the language in the book was confusing but as I read on you just forget how difficult the language is and you just want to get on with the story.

The cinema trip to see The Hobbit was great. I liked it because first of all I was eager to watch the film. I was able to spend the time with my friends; Emma, Whitney, Poppy, Tia, Chelsea, Emily and Matthew.”

Accelerated Reader Scheme The LRC and Year 7 have now received the Accelerated Reader (AR) scheme. AR promotes reading for pleasure by making reading competitive in peer groups and using quizzes as assessments in order to suggest appropriate books.

Accelerated Reader will be running for all Year 7 students after Easter.

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TEN Gifted and Talented Student Forum

Truly amazing day, but brought more questions than answers.

Kye Metcalfe Year 11

CAN students attend Gifted and Talented Conference Nine City Academy Norwich students Year 10 and 11 joined over 200 students from around Norfolk at the Julie Arliss Gifted and Talented conference at Hellesdon High School.

The event was a unique opportunity for students to meet and listen to top academics speak on a wide range of topics from Time and Space to the Nature of Consciousness.

Students were actively engaged with abstract and complex ideas and their practical application. It was a challenging and rewarding day which students thoroughly enjoyed.

Some comments from students who attended the conference:

CAN students were encouraged to share their experiences and views on what it is like to be a Gifted and Talented student and how they would like to see the TEN Gifted and Talented programme develop in the future.

Absolutely loved it! Very intellectual and challenges you to think in a way which isn’t necessarily needed in everyday life. Jess Walsh Year 11

I really loved it, it didn’t really feel like you were in lectures, it was so interesting, it made you think on a much larger scale on simple things, but in a way you could understand.

Bethany Thomas Year 10

What should you get as Gifted and Talented students?

• Those who achieve in and out of school • An equal share of G&T for each subject • People who put in effort/work hard • People with a good attitude to work • Those who constantly excel in school work • Those who have potential to do really well/above average

• Trips to universities • Social occasions • Debate days with other schools • More responsibilities • Have additional further lessons in a subject of our choosing • Get to go to conferences • More options in lessons • Be able to teach other younger students

Possible ideas

Very interesting and factual, really loved the lecture on self esteem as I felt I could really relate to what was said! Gina Matthews Year 10

I think today was an interesting day.

I really enjoyed the lecture on self-esteem as I could relate to it as I’m a performer.

Shahrukh Zaffar Year 11

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I found the section on time really mentally challenging.

Jess Rudd Year 11

City Academy Norwich’s Gifted and Talented students attended a TEN Student Forum at the StartUp Lounge alongside Gifted and Talented students from across the Federation.

Who should be identiÀed as Gifted and Talented?

What is an ideal lesson?

• Visual and interactive lessons • More variety of teaching techniques • Less people in a classroom (10 maximum) • More exam practice • More creative lessons • Being pushed to achieve more • Being set work on ability • More gadgets

• Mentoring – we mentor younger students and older students mentor us to help us cope with exams etc • Homework – make sure homework is relevant, informative, beneficial and challenging • Working with Paston 6th Form College and with their gifted and talented associations – as they’re similar to our 6th Form and we can discuss ideas, issues and build a link • Career days – visit career shows (eg Bassingbourn Army careers exhibition) • Tutoring – we tutor for younger pupils • Have an online G&T network, perhaps a Facebook page • Dragon’s Den-like day • Social event for Gifted and Talented (parties etc) • Days where each group presents a topic of their choice which they are interested in • Gifted and Talented t-shirts/bracelets

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Cambridge University Challenge day City Academy Norwich’s Gifted and Talented students visited Emanuel College at Cambridge University.

Students spent the morning learning about Cambridge University and the admissions process. They were also given a tour of the campus and introduced to CAMbassadors (Cambridge students) who answered

questions about life at Cambridge University.

Students treated to Russian taster session

Students then attended lectures on Astrophysics and Biomedical ethics by Cambridge academics.

It was a very informative day and students came away enthused about the prospect of going into Higher Education.

7a1 were treated to a Russian taster session on 6th March 2013 when students Abi and Freddy and teacher Mrs Read from the Norwich school visited City Academy Norwich to teach students about Russia and the Russian language. The session culminated in a craft activity where students made Mothers’ Day cards.

Students create Mars Landers Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students have made Mars Landers.

Students had to make their Mars Landers out of a tray of things, including card and straws; but no bubble wrap! They had to add crumple zones and pistons onto them and were not allowed to use parachutes – we did not want to make it too easy. The students then tested the Mars Landers with raw eggs – hopefully not breaking them mid-test.

STEM students are now working on Lego Mindstorm robots which our students build and complete challenges with, such as speed, incline and rough terrain challenges. They have to apply, science, technology, engineering and maths to solve the challenges.

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The event was highly informative, interesting and industrious.

Our thanks to our Norwich School partners and 7a1 for being a delight throughout!

Once built, students can change them by adding gearing and changing the drive of them for a speed race, an incline race and a rough terrain race. These robots are programmable and have motors that can change to make them 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive.

A very exciting group of lessons enjoyed by staff and students.

Red Nose Day City Academy Norwich have raised £275.29 so far for Comic Relief!

Students and staff got involved in a variety of fundraising activities including a Teacher vs. Food competition, cake sales, lucky dips, leg waxing and fancy dress.

Well done to everyone who organised and took part in the activities.

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Where to Ànd us

L RD BLUEBEL

City Academy Norwich 299 Bluebell Road Norwich NR4 7LP

For more information, please visit www.cityacademynorwich.org City Academy Norwich 299 Bluebell Road Norwich NR4 7LP

Tel: 01603 452 628

Principal Mr D Brunton

Email: office@cityacademynorwich.org

Fax: 01603 507 215

Our supporters and sponsors: N ORWICH S CHOOL

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